CCS Quiz Bowl second at ESU 15 meet, qualifies for state

The Chase County Quiz Bowl team finished the ESU 15 Quiz Bowl with a 5-2 record and second place finish, good enough to qualify the Longhorns for State Quiz Bowl.
CCS started off the meet at Southwest with back-to-back wins, 35-15 over Dundy County Stratton and 60-5 over Southwest.
Back-to-back losses followed, however. CCS lost 5-35 to Hitchcock County then 40-55 to first-place finisher Medicine Valley.
Three dominant wins followed. Chase County beat Hayes Center 45-0, Wauneta-Palisade 30-0 and McCook 35-0.
Placings went down to the wire. Hitchcock County lost consecutively to McCook and Medicine Valley to end its day and allow CCS to claim second.
Following Medicine Valley and CCS were, respectively, McCook, Hitchcock County, Southwest, Hayes Center, Wauneta-Palisade and Dundy County Stratton.
Head Coach Chelsea Zuege said she thought the team was surprised with the second place finish for sure.
“We haven’t placed high at the ESU competition for a few years now, so it seemed to come out of nowhere,” she said.
Chase County scored 250 points at the meet, third most overall behind Medicine Valley and Hitchcock County.
With the exception of the third round when CCS scored five points, scored consistently.
“It’s hard to tell what goes right when things are going well in rounds. Some of the factors that seem to contribute are: the difficulty and subject of the questions, our opponent, who is willing to buzz in,” Zuege said.
State Quiz Bowl will be hosted by ESU 9 Apil 24 in Hastings at North Shore Assembly of God Church. Competition will run from 10:30 a.m. CT to 4 p.m. CT. The Quiz Bowl will go up to 18 rounds, if necessary.
Zuege said the team will continue to practice like they have been as they prepare for state.